Entertainment News, Celebrity News Online

This groundbreaking 1959 album is as close to perfection as jazz gets without sacrificing its spontaneity

This article was written by John Fordham, for guardian.co.uk on Monday 5th July 2010 14.35 UTC

I had hoped that a blog on the popular and funky Hammond organist Jimmy Smith might attract more than the average number of commentators, but I wasn’t prepared for the gratifying deluge of responses following my inclusion of Smith in this series.

It has to be said it was a passing disappointment to discover that most of the comments were about the advanced age of the England World Cup squad, with fitting eulogies for Rosie Swash running a close second. But us jazzers are always being accused of living in a world of our own, and analogies between football and jazz (check out the Vortex Club’s World Cup Jazzball series) always seemed appropriate to me.

It has to be said, of course, that if jazz musicians greeted the unexpected moves of others with the reflexes of the England defence against Germany, the music would have died out a long time ago, but the best spontaneous jazz-making certainly brings Brazil or Argentina’s one-touch fluency to mind. In respect of which, commenter oohrogerpalmer’s aside about his Hammond-organ playing nan in his otherwise footie-centric comment brings to mind my venerable mother-in-law, and her observations on the England-Germany game: “There seemed to be a lot of people in white shirts playing football, and a lot of people in red shirts watching.” Gary Linekar et al could probably have done with her for the post-match analysis.

Anyway, I owe regular readers an apology that almost a month has gone by since the last blog in this series, a combination of the buzz of Wynton Marsalis’s June residency in London and the spiritual torpor occasioned by watching the England team, both of which made time stand still in quite different ways. But where better to pick up the series than with the album many consider the best jazz record of all time?

Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue, recorded between 1958-59, has been a perennial
bestseller. People who have never bought another jazz album own this one. Whereas the busy bebop of the 1940s and 50s ricocheted with flying runs of notes and twitched with constantly changing chords, Kind of Blue was quiet, spacious and subtle, the improvisations built on note patterns or modes rather than song harmonies, so that the underlying chord-movement was peacefully minimal. Davis’s beautiful trumpet sound, the contrasting saxophone styles of John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley, the graceful touch of pianist Bill Evans and the relaxed hipness of a superb rhythm section, brought an outcome as close to perfection as jazz can ever get without sacrificing its spontaneity.

At this transitional point in his life, a visionary relationship with composer/arranger Gil Evans, his work in 1957 with film director Louis Malle on the Ascenseur pour l’Échafaud soundtrack and the discovery of Bill Evans were among the factors leading Davis toward a radical reinvention of jazz. Moreover, in the year before Kind of Blue, Davis had worked with Evans on the orchestral album Porgy and Bess, and the arranger had given him a scale but no chords to improvise on for the track I Loves You Porgy. Around the same time, Davis was studying Russian composer Aram Khachaturian’s use of scales (drawn from Armenian folk music), and witnessed a New York performance by Les Ballets Africains from Guinea, which danced to highly rhythmic but pared-down modal forms.

“I think a movement in jazz is beginning away from the conventional string of chords, and a return to emphasis on melodic rather than harmonic variations,” Davis told the writer Nat Hentoff for Jazz Review in December 1958. “There will be fewer chords but infinite possibilities as to what to do with them.” As with most periods of his life, Miles Davis (like his even more experimental contemporaries Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane) was in tune with the spirit of his times when many of those around him didn’t yet realise what was going on. Art was taking a step back, as social, spiritual and economic changes in the 20th century were making listeners more aware of their individuality and independence. Kind of Blue felt like Miles Davis’s music. But it also felt like endlessly varied and personal music that belonged to all of its entranced listeners.

<!-- Guardian Watermark: music/musicblog/2010/jul/05/miles-davis-kind-blue|2010-07-06T02:50:34+01:00|221079122bd721f36f1ccbb8ae59a8c59e1a1af1 -->

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2010

<!-- END GUARDIAN WATERMARK -->

Matt Damon has praised his wife for organizing his life.

The Hollywood actor admits his pregnant spouse Luciana – with whom he raises three children, stepdaughter Alexia, 11, Isabella, four, and 22-month-old Gia – keeps his work and family commitments balanced.

Speaking at the Ante Up for Africa charity poker event in Las Vegas, which was hosted by his ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ co-star Don Cheadle, he said, “She really keeps it together. We just talk it out and work it all out. “You say, this is the job and this is the time commitment and this is where it will be. I’m a lot easier to hire if you’re doing movies in New York.”

Matt also revealed the couple and their kids are “very excited” about welcoming a new face to the family.

Referring to his children, the 39-year-old star said, “They track its progress in mommy’s belly.”

Cheryl Cole collapsed at a photo shoot on Saturday, July 3.

The ‘Fight for This Love’ singer passed out while on a shoot for her new album, prompting her management to act on doctors’ advice and force the brunette beauty to pull out of Simon Cowell’s British pop star search show ‘The X Factor,’ on which she is a judge, until further notice.

After arriving at the north London studio looking “gaunt” and “washed-out”, the 27-year-old pop star, who is currently divorcing her cheating husband, soccer player Ashley Cole, collapsed unconscious just minutes after the shoot began.

Cheryl was diagnosed with severe exhaustion by a doctor, and tests revealed she was also suffering from a gastroenteritis bug.

A close friend of Cheryl told The Sun newspaper, “She should never have gone to the studio. She insisted she was fine, even though she clearly wasn’t. Her skin was pale and her lips had no colour. She’s run down and tired. That’s why she ended up with the stomach virus.

“Eventually she just keeled over. It was horrible. She was only out for a few seconds but it was enough to give everyone, including Cheryl, a massive scare.

“It was a real shock to see her looking so ill. She looks terrible.”

The pop star, whose second album is due for release in October, is said to have dedicated herself to her career in the wake of her split from Ashley.

The friend explained, “Since splitting from Ashley, Cheryl has been throwing herself into work. She has been completely dedicated to ‘X Factor’, her album, recording sessions and touring – to an extent that it has started to affect her health.

“There’s only so long someone can do 18 hours every day without burning out. She has worked relentlessly for the past 18 months. Something had to give.”

Cheryl is now expected to take a minimum of seven days out from her busy schedule, before gradually returning to work.

Katie Price and Alex Reid partied with drag queens at their wedding blessing on Saturday, July 3.

The couple, who had a quickie wedding in Las Vegas in February, celebrated their union by inviting nine drag artists to perform a number of classic disco tunes including Gloria Gaynor’s ‘I Will Survive’ and Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Girls Just Want To Have Fun’ on stage at their reception.

Katie had lined up the performers to entertain her, while a martial arts team were signed up to perform for Alex, although the cage-fighter, who is also known to enjoy dressing up in women’s clothing, is said to have enjoyed the singers more than the fighters.

A source said, “Alex enjoyed the drag artists more than she did.”

When a cage-fighter friend of Alex, 34, tried to get on stage to join in, he was embarrassed by the drag acts.

The insider revealed, “A drag queen threw him off.”

The ceremony was not all fun and games, however, with police called to the event following trouble with photographers trying to get pictures of her dress – something which left Katie, 32, “shaken and upset”.

A spokesperson said, “She was understandably shaken and upset by the actions of these people.”

Katie – who already has three children, Harvey, Junior and Princess Tiaamii, from previous relationships – eschewed all alcohol at the blessing reception, sparking rumours she may be pregnant with her first child with Alex, something she has previously revealed she is keen to happen.

Today, July 5, the pair will fly to Thailand to begin their honeymoon, which is being filmed as part of a TV deal.

Prince did an interview with the UK’s Daily Mirror, in which he explains his unusual position of banning digital distribution of his work and says he believes the internet is “over.”

The diminutive pop star, now 52, elaborates:

“The internet’s completely over. I don’t see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won’t pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can’t get it.

“The internet’s like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good.

“They just fill your head with numbers and that can’t be good for you.”

Prince, who says he is always interested in “finding new ways to distribute (his) music,” has even gone so far as to remove his official website completely. Later in the interview, the artist currently known as Prince blames much of modern woes on young people who “don’t have enough God in their lives.”

Jessica Simpson has a new boyfriend.

The singer-and-actress started dating NFL football player Eric Johnson last month and sources say they are smitten with each other, according to gossip website TMZ.

One said, “They are very happy.”

Eric, who has previously played for the San Francisco 49ers and the New Orleans Saints, split from his wife earlier this year and filed for divorce in February.

Although she has been romantically linked to Smashing Pumpkins singer Billy Corgan, Jessica hasn’t been in a serious relationship since ex-boyfriend Tony Romo dumped her on her 28th birthday last year.

Despite the way Tony, who also plays in the NFL, ended their romance, Jessica insists the pair are still friends.

She has said, “Tony is great, still a friend of mine. I still look at his cute butt in the outfit – uniform.

“What went wrong? You’d have to ask him that. He broke up with me on my birthday. We are still good friends.”

The 29-year-old blonde beauty was previously married to singer Nick Lachey and dated John Mayer for nine months.

She recently defended the ‘Gravity’ hitmaker after he discussed their sex life in a magazine interview, describing her bedroom technique as “sexual napalm”.

She said, “I will always care about him. I think he’s a great person, a great musician, but I was very disappointed by the article.”

Katy Perry was only allowed to listen to Christian music when she was growing up.

The ‘California Gurls’ singer, famed for her racy lyrics and flesh-flashing outfits, says mainstream pop music was banned in her household by her religious parents Keith and Mary Hudson.

Katy, whose first album release was a gospel-rock LP entitled ‘Katy Hudson’, which was her name before she switched to her mother’s maiden name said, “I grew up listening only to Christian music. MTV was blocked on the television. When I went roller-skating, I would go on Christian night: Tuesday night. It was just a part of growing up – parents are strict because they don’t want you to grow up to be Charles Manson.

“But I was always very manipulative as a kid – I got my way. Which has helped my whole life.”

Katy, who is engaged to controversial comedian Russell Brand, has now achieved worldwide pop success and is confident she knows the secret to staying at the top of the charts.

The 25-year-old star, who is gearing up to release her new album ‘Teenage Dream’ told Esquire magazine, “People’s attention span is so quick these days that if you don’t burn an image into their brain, it will be covered up with something else. I’m singing about who I am and it’s sexy without being trashy.”

Goldie Hawn is a “dreamer”.

The ‘Cactus Flower’ actress admits she is a “humanitarian” who only wants the best from life and loves nothing more than listening to children giggling.

She said, “I’m a humanitarian. I’m a dreamer, someone who wishes the best for mankind. I get angry at lies, and I get angry at ill-intended people. I think the thing that thrills me the most in life, aside from seeing a happy child giggle, is human spirit.

“I’m not an animal-crazy person, you know. I don’t have a house full of cats. But animals, children, elderly people… that’s my level of empathy.”

Goldie has always been known for her fun-loving ways, but the 64-year-old star insists there is more to her than her “ditzy” personality.

She added, “I have a side that is contemplative. When I was younger I was this sort of ditzy young comedienne, and people loved to see me laugh, and when I wasn’t they would say to me, ‘Oh come on Goldie, smile!’ I used to say to them, ‘Well give me a reason to smile.’ Because I do get sad, and I do get hurt, and I do get let down and I do care.”

Britney Spears is “dreading” talking to her sons about sex.

The pop star, who has sons Sean Preston, four, and three-year-old Jayden James with her ex-husband Kevin Federline, admits she is terrified about the day when the youngsters start asking her questions about how they were made.

She said, “I’m dreading the moment when my sons ask me how babies are made.”

At the moment, Britney is enjoying spending lots of time with the youngsters and is enjoying how “cute” they are.

She explained, “Things are pretty quiet right now. I’ve been spending a lot of time at home with my boys. They just started karate class, which is super cute!”

However, the blonde beauty – who has had numerous personal problems over the years, including a very public break down in 2007 – is terrified they would want to follow her footsteps into the entertainment business.

She reportedly told America’s Cosmopolitan magazine, “If my sons told me they wanted to be in the entertainment business, I’d lock them in their rooms until they turned 30.”

Lady Gaga will always “sacrifice” love for her music career.

The ‘Poker Face’ singer, who is currently single, admits she has been forced to put her love life aside to be a successful pop star and is too “weak” to make romances work.

She said, “My greatest sacrifice is love. I’ve only ever been in love once, and I had to walk away because I had to put my career first. He wanted me to stay at home and be with him; I wanted to be out there trying to make it on stage. It was a huge lesson for me, but it’s also a source of sadness. God gave me a gift with music, but if you have gifts you also have weaknesses. My weakness is not being able to make relationships work.”

The 24-year-old star has been on numerous dates over the years, but has decided to choose music instead because it won’t ever break her heart.

She added to Live magazine, ”There’s something in me that stops me ever putting a relationship before my work. I guess I always think my music is never going to roll over in bed one morning and tell me that it doesn’t love me any more. I have to believe the music is worth the sacrifice.”